Cambiata, An Early Music Ensemble

Add your comments about Cambiata's new CD, Of Love And Leisure, by clicking "Add comment" below.

Thanks to all who made it to our CD Release Party at the Banana Factory! We saw lots of old friends and familiar faces, and were happy to meet new folks. The turnout was terrific, and we are glad to be back in circulation again, performing and bringing the music of the Renaissance to the Lehigh Valley and beyond.

If you tuned in to WDIY on Oct. 18, at 10 am, you heard music from our new CD, Of Love and Leisure, as well as several Cambiata members speaking with Allen Zinnes.

Philip A. Metzger reviewed Cambiata's second CD, Of Love And Leisure. Please contact cambiatamail@gmail.com for more information or to purchase a CD ($10). Here is the text of the review:

Most of the time I'm writing about that most effervescent of events: A live concert. They're here and gone, except in memory, in a couple of hours. Once in a while a local group produces a recording, and then it's possible to hear and re-hear a musical experience whenever you wish.

This is the case with a new CD recorded and produced by Cambiata, the Lehigh Valley's resident early music group. The disc, the group's second (the first was "Nutmegs and Ginger" issued in 1999), consists of 17 vocal and instrumental works on the theme "Of Love and Leisure."

Moravian College music professor Larry Lipkis has provided liner notes and some of the arrangements used by the group.

Members of Cambiata, all amateur musicians in the best sense of the word, are Ilse Stoll Zinnes, who performs on recorder, krummhorn and bass viola da gamba; Sara Cox, a specialist on recorder, krummhorn and other wind instruments as well as viola da gamba; Bill Thatcher, specialist on lute, fiddle and percussion, and Ruth Maletz, harpsichord and many other instruments. Cox, Thatcher and Maletz also sing and are joined in one number by Alyssa Thatcher.

I recommend this sprightly CD for everyone interested in early music, the activities of local musicians, or both.

The price for the CD is $10; information on obtaining it is available on the Web site (www.cambiata.org) or call 610-691-6594.

Cambiata also announced its fall concert schedule.

- The release party for their new CD will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Banana Factory, 25 W. Third St., Bethlehem. FREE

- Cambiata will give a free First Friday concert at 6:45 p.m. Dec. I at the Banana Factory.

- At 10 a.m. Dec. 23, Cambiata will appear in the Ice House, Sand Island, Bethlehem, in a children's concert and workshop called "A Renaissance Christmas." Tickets are $5 for the concert or $7.50 for concert and workshop. The concert will be repeated at 3 p.m.

Philip A. Metzger is a freelance writer.

SARA COX has a B.A. in music performance from Moravian College, where she majored in the recorder. She has performed with the Bethlehem Bach Choir and Touchstone Theatre and has been a member of the Moravian College Collegium Musicum since 1977. She is Associate Managing Editor of books at Rodale and lives in Bethlehem, PA, with her husband, daughter, and two cats. Sara joined Cambiata in 1993. She plays recorders, krumhorns, gemshorns, tenor viola da gamba, and percussion and sings.

RUTH MALETZ is a graduate of Westminster Choir College. She has performed at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and with Touchstone Theatre. She studied and played recorder and harpsichord with The Age of Gold, an early music group based in Stratford-upon-Avon in England in the 1970s, and is a founding member of Cambiata. She teaches piano and performs as accompanist and chamber player. She is on the faculty of Community Music School in Allentown as piano teacher and choral accompanist and coach. She is a mother of three and lives in Bethlehem, PA, with her husband. Ruth plays recorders, krumhorns, gemshorns, treble viola da gamba, harpshichord, and percussion and sings.

BILL THATCHER was first introduced to medieval and Renaissance music 20 years ago at St. Lawrence University, where he learned to play a variety of early instruments while earning a music degree. Since then, he has strolled the streets of Renaissance fairs in New York, Massachusetts, and Georgia, and has appeared at Touchstone Theatre and the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. He lives in Easton, PA, with his wife and works at Metropolitan Life Insurance. He has a son and a daughter. Bill has been a member of Cambiata since 1993. He plays lute, vielle, fiddle, rauschfife, recorders, krumhorns, gemshorns, and percussion and sings.

ILSE STOLL ZINNES is a founding member of Cambiata and has played with the Moravian College Collegium Musicum since 1976. She has also performed at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and with Touchstone Theatre. Born and raised in Germany, Ilse is a chemist, mother of three, and grandmother of one. She lives with her husband in Bethlehem, PA. Ilse plays recorders, krumhorns, gemshorns, and bass viola da gamba.

Cambiata's second CD, Of Love And Leisure, was released in summer 2006. CDs may be purchased for $10 each from Cambiata (cambiatamail@gmail.com, 610-691-6594).

Tracks on this CD are:
(1) Wild Geese - Gye Fiane (from the Neal collection, 1724, transcribed by Chris Norman, arr. Larry Lipkis) 2:35
(2) La Canarie (from Terpsichore, 1612, Michael Praetorius) with Canaries (from the Straloch Lute Book, 1627-1629) 4:07
(3) Greensleeves and Pudding Pieces (from The Dancing Master, 1686, John Playford, arr. Bernard Thomas), Packington's Pound (anonymous, text by Ben Jonson, 1614) 5:57
(4) Bourres I and II (from Terpsichore, 1612, Michael Praetorius) 2:21
(5) Lord Mayo (David Murphy, 18th century, arr. Larry Lipkis), Swallowtail Jig (traditional Irish jig) 5:12
(6) Rorate Coeli Desuper (traditional Scottish tune from Oxford Book of Carols, R. Vaughan Williams, ed., words by William Dunbar, c. 1460 - c. 1520) 4:33
(7) Queen's Delight (from The Dancing Master, 1665, John Playford, arr. Larry Lipkis), Drive the Cold Winter Away (from The Dancing Master, 1651, John Playford, Italian Rant (from The Dancing Master, 1657, John Playford, arr. Larry Lipkis) 5:57
(8) Canzon La Basgapera (Gio. Dominico Rognoni Taeggio, c. 1600) 2:30
(9) Dansa Polonica (Christian Loeffelholtz, 1585), The King of Denmark's Galiard (from Lachrimae, 1605, John Dowland), Duncomb's Galiard (anonymous from Matthew Holmes Consort Book, c. 1595), Volt and Curent (from Rowallen Lute Book, c. 1620), Volte (from Terpsichore, 1612, Michael Praetorius) 7:45
(10) O Mistress Mine (from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Thomas Morley, c. 1557-1602, arr. Larry Lipkis) 3:27
(11) Madame D'amours (anonymous, from the court of Henry VIII) 1:27
(12) Tant que vivray (from Chansons nouvelles, 1528, Claudin de Sermisy) 2:33
(13) Jewes Dance (from Matthew Holmes Consort Book, c. 1595, Richard Nicholson) 1:40
(14) Giles Farnaby's Dreame, Pawles Wharfe, A Toye, Tower Hill (from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, Giles Farnaby, c. 1565-1640, arr. Dom Gregory Murray) 5:58
(15) The Little Barly-Corne (anonymous broadside ballad to the tune of Stingo) with Jack Pudding (both tunes from The Dancing Master, 1651, John Playford) 3:30
(16) Mein Freund (from Dansereye, 1551, Tielman Susato) 1:54
(17) Warum, Ronde, Ronde and Hupfauf (from Dansereye, 1551, Tielman Susato) 2:55

Cambiata released its first CD, Nutmegs and Ginger, in 1999. The first printing sold out, and was re-issued. CDs are available through Cambiata (cambiatamail@gmail.com) and Amazon.com.

Tracks on this CD are:
(1) Argeers (from John Playford's The English Dancing Master, 1651) 2:38
(2) Daniel's Almain (Daniel Bachiler, ca. 1600) 2:32
(3) Riu Riu Chiu (anonymous, from Villancicos de diversos Autores, 1556) 2:05
(4) Nutmegs and Ginger/Kemp's Jig (anonymous, from 16th-century England) 5:01
(5) Courante, Pavane de Spagne, Bransle de la Torche (three dances by Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621) 6:48
(6) Pavane (Thoinot Arbeau, 1588) with interlude from Lachrimae (John Dowland, 1563-1626) 4:19
(7) Estampie (anonymous, 13th-century French dance) 2:30
(8) Greensleeves (John Johnson, 1540-1594) 4:27
(9) Es war einmal ein Madchen (from Tielman Susato's Danserye, 1551) 1:03
(10) Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home (anonymous, English Broadside Ballad with variations by Francis Cutting, ca. 1600) 7:56
(11) Bransle Simple (F. Caroubel/Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621) 1:39
(12) Bransle Double (Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621) 2:19
(13) Come Again, Sweet Love Doth Now Invite (John Dowland, from The First Book of Songs, 1597) 3:34
(14) Salterello and Chominciamento de Gioia (The Beginning of Joy) two medieval dances from Pavia, Italy, ca. 1400 5:29
(15) Courante (Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621) 3:30
(16) Cornish Dance (anonymous, early 17th century) 2:27
(17) Bille's Medley: Grimstock, Cuckolds All in a Row, Watkin's Ale (from John Playford's The English Dancing Master, 1651) 3:40

Music has been a key component in human cultures throughout history, and the role music played in the lives of men and women in Renaissance Europe is no exception. In the royal courts, music made the pomp and pageantry possible; in the churches, it brought the beauty and serenity of the spiritual world to Earth.

But much of the music was made in the homes of regular folks who, unlike today, didn't have CD players or MTV to entertain them. In 16th- and 17th-century Europe, cutting-edge technology was the printing press, an invention that prompted mass production and distribution of printed music. Armed with a shelf of music and a chest of instruments, families and friends in the newly emerging middle class could entertain themselves for hours and develop their musical skills in the process. Some of the music printed then and that still survives was a single melody line to which players improvised harmony and used whatever instruments were at hand. The resulting sound is as unique and fresh today as it was 400 years ago.

The Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania has great artistic and creative diversity. Some 30 years ago, a talented young music professor named Larry Lipkis added to the cultural wealth of the region when he joined the music department faculty at Moravian College in Bethlehem, where he continues to teach. Larry is also a well-known composer and a member of the internationally acclaimed Baltimore Consort.

In 1976, he formed an early music ensemble of students and local musicians: Moravian College Collegium Musicum. The group included such instruments as recorders, krumhorns, viola da gamba, and sackbutts. Through this group, Larry fed a growing appreciation for early music in the Lehigh Valley, an interest that nurtured the growth of Cambiata.